Tom Keifer had been working on The Way Life Goes since 2003. It was released on 30 April 2013 through Merovee Records, part of Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. This is the first new studio material from Keifer or Cinderella since Still Climbing in 1994. "The Flower Song" was the album's lead single, released for radio airplay on 4 February 2013. "Solid Ground" followed on 11 March.
Reception
The Way Life Goes has received mostly positive critical reviews since its release. Allmusic gave the album four of a possible five stars, with reviewer Stephen Erlewine saying, "This is who he is: a man slightly out of time and a musician who's gotten better at his craft over the years, winding up with the best record he's ever made." Writer William Clark of Music Enthusiast Magazine wrote, "Although us fans have had to wait nearly twenty years to hear some new material from the renowned musician, when those first few racing guitar licks to “Welcome To My Mind” come cranking out of your speakers, you instantly know this album was more than worth the wait." Metal Forces calls the album "an impressive piece of work that is multi-layered and jam-packed full of emotion with not a duff tune to be found," while Hard Rock Hideout described the album in saying "fantastic songwriting and outstanding playing fill The Way Life Goes, and Tom Keifer's voice has never sounded better!" The Way Life Goes sold 5,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at No.78 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Track listing
All songs written by Tom Keifer; co-writers are noted.
Deluxe edition
Released October 20, 2017, the deluxe edition follows the 14-song track listing of the original 2013 album release, with the addition of these 3 bonus track songs: The deluxe edition is a special 2-disc CD/DVD set packaged in a 6-panel digipak, featuring all-new album artwork and a 20-page book with custom original illustrations for each track. Featured on the CD are 3 new bonus tracks studio-recorded by multi-time Grammy Award winning record producer, audio engineer, and mixerVance Powell, including a cover version of the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" and 2 different recordings of Cinderella's "Nobody’s Fool" in duet with Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. The bonus DVD contains The Way Life's Goin', a 30-minute documentary on the making of the 3 bonus tracks, as well as music videos, live footage, and more.
